There is no shame in reading that sentence a few times with confusion. The Padres have never won a World Series and have not made it to the big show since 1998. But a couple offseason moves gave the Padres some veteran leaders with valuable playoff experience, including a couple of World Series appearances

RHP Joaquin Benoit had been in the American League for 11 seasons before signing a 2-year, $15.5 million contract with the Padres in December. Benoit made the playoffs the last four seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and the Detroit Tigers, including a run to the World Series in 2012.

OF Seth Smith made the playoffs in four of his six seasons before he was traded to the Padres in December. Of those four playoff appearances, Smith made a World Series run in 2007 and has a .262 batting average with 2 home runs in the playoffs. He said he is not sure what he can bring to the team based on playoff experience, other than a certain mentality.

“It’s all about coming ready to play every day and trying to win that day’s game,” Smith said. “You’re not worried about making the playoffs. You’re worried about winning the game that day. That can kind of snowball and get to a point where if you’re playing well, your confidence gets to a point where you go out there every day and you know you’re going to win the game.”

Bud Black hopes that the World Series experience will be infectious to the team and will create some good energy in the clubhouse.

“Anytime you have experience of championship caliber players, it helps, there’s no doubt about it,” Black said. “Obviously, this is the pinnacle when you win a World Series in our sport. It’s great to have those players in around our clubhouse on a team that have won because then that experience can be shared, especially when you get into the second half of the season.”

Smith is hoping to get to the playoffs with a team that hasn’t made the postseason since 2006, when the Padres won the NL West for the second year in a row. The Padres have been close a couple times since then, including losing a tiebreaker to get into the playoffs in 2007, when Smith’s own Colorado Rockies beat the Padres in game 163.

“Last year was the first year I made the playoffs two years in a row,” Smith said. “I’ve seen teams do well and then come back and not have the success that they had the year before for whatever reason, and then last year winning the division two years in a row. I think every year is a new year and people are rebuilding and things happen and it’s kind of hard to tell what’s going to happen.”

As for Benoit, he has pitched well in the majority of his postseason appearances. He has a 2.82 ERA in the 20 postseason games he has appeared in. This will be his first year trying to make the playoffs in the National League